Tech: New app helps bikers share their motorcycle diaries

Trails of India is a new app that offers an exclusive space for bikers to connect and share trails

When we first heard of Trails of India, a web service-cum-app that aims to connect bikers and allow them to share bike trails across India on a smartphone, we were excited. Who doesn't love reading a thrilling motorcycle diary? So, we decided to take it for a spin.

What we liked
The app offers you a platform to share and view trails, connect with friends, create or join groups, events as well as connect with other bikers on the platform. Each member earns a badge based on their contribution on the platform. You start as a Road Scout and climb up the ladder to become a Trailblazer. The layout is nice, and each section in the app is easy to navigate through. However, we feel it could do a lot more, especially with the way trails are presented on the app/website.

What we didn't
We didn't expect Che Guevara's The Motorcycle Diaries but at least skillfully told stories of life on the road — with interesting twists and turns, joys, setbacks, and the sighs of relief every time you find a comfortable bed after a long ride on the wheels. Trails of India aims to offer all of this, but the quality of writing and presentation fails to live up to the promise. It's text-heavy, with pictures hidden behind a small icon. Even the sub-sections in a travelogue aren't highlighted well.

There's a route map embedded with every trail, but the catch is that you can't share it with anyone outside the app, nor can you use it to create your new trail map, a feature that most bikers would find valuable. We feel the app could offer more information on the map, by flagging places of interest, especially lesser-known ones, and utility stops on the road, such as bed/breakfast places, petrol stations, mechanics, or possibly dangerous routes and alternative options — factors that could actually make the app worthy of calling itself a platform for bike trails. Without this, it just turns out to be an average blog
that fails to offer any useful information.

Available on: Android, iOS and Windows devices as well as a webservice.
Log on to: trailsofinida.com

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